30 April 2026
The Indigenous Carbon Industry Network (ICIN) welcomes today’s release of the proposed amendments by the Australian Government to reform the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme.
ICIN members have advocated for improved recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for a carbon project on their Country since 2019, including through the Best Practice FPIC Guidelines developed by ICIN, the network’s annual national forums and submissions to the ACCU Scheme Review process.
The proposed changes include strengthening consent requirements by recognising registered native title claimants as eligible interest holders. With these changes in place, carbon project proponents would require both upfront, and staged, consent for carbon projects on land where native title has been recognised, or where claims are underway.
Under the current Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (CFI Act), which was established in 2011 and governs the ACCU Scheme, carbon projects can be conditionally registered on native title land for up to seven years without consent.
This legislation loophole has driven a ‘land grab’ of carbon projects, with hundreds of carbon projects registered over the last four years primarily by non-Indigenous carbon developers*. Many of these projects were registered without consent from Traditional Owners," said Anna Boustead, CEO, ICIN.
"Today’s proposed amendments mark a meaningful shift towards recognising and protecting Indigenous rights and interests within Australia’s carbon market and intend to close the consent loophole," added Ms Boustead.
ICIN will be consulting with its members and other Indigenous groups across Australia about the proposed legislative changes, to inform a submission to the Australian Government.
ICIN is funded to deliver workshops informing the ACCU Scheme through the Australian Government's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s First Nations Carbon Farming Outreach Program.
Photo credit: Mimal Rangers
* A Quantum Commodity Intelligence article, published in August 2025, reported that a total of 159 ACCU projects had been registered since the start of
February without written consent of relevant interest holders, according to data from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER). More information found here.